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Something strange is happening at Earth’s center. Decades of earthquake data show that Earth’s inner core has been rotating slower than its mantle and surface since around 2010, researchers report …

Something weird is happening to Earth’s inner core Read More

In planet formation, as in poker, you have to play the hand you’re dealt. If an Earthlike planet is the goal, the best starting hand might contain three to eight …

A planet needs to start with a lot of water to become like Earth Read More

An ancient Egyptian mummy, dubbed the “Screaming Woman” for what appears to be an open-mouthed look of pain or fear, might have had that expression fixed in place by a …

An Egyptian mummy’s silent ‘scream’ might have been fixed at death Read More

Black holes can’t be formed from pure light. Quantum physics would curb their creation under any foreseeable conditions, a new study suggests. Typically, matter is responsible for black holes. They’re …

A black hole made from pure light is impossible, thanks to quantum physics  Read More

To expand the periodic table, it might be time to go titanium.  A new study lays the groundwork to expand the periodic table with a search for element 120, to …

A new element on the periodic table might be within reach  Read More

The neutrino “fog” is beginning to materialize. Lightweight subatomic particles called neutrinos have begun elbowing their way into the data of experiments not designed to spot them. Two experiments, built …

Dark matter experiments get a first peek at the ‘neutrino fog’  Read More

To leave a lasting trail, meteors need to aim low. A new survey of shooting stars shows that meteors that blaze through 90 kilometers up in the sky leave a …

Some meteors leave trails lasting up to an hour. Now we may know why Read More

An appetite-stimulating protein can reverse anorexia in mice. Mice with lack of appetite and weight loss — symptoms similar to people with anorexia — that were genetically tweaked to secrete …

A hunger protein reverses anorexia symptoms in mice Read More

On August 8, the Japanese Meteorological Agency issued its first-ever “megaquake alert,” after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked the Miyazaki prefecture in southern Japan earlier that day. The Miyazaki quake …

Why Japan issued its first-ever mega-earthquake alert Read More

For millennia, humans have seen inexplicable things in the sky. Some have been beautiful, some have been terrifying, and some — like auroras and solar eclipses before they were understood …

Scientists are getting serious about UFOs. Here’s why Read More